Copywriting

Effective or stupid?

May 16, 2007

Here’s the question:  Effective or stupid?

Assume, based on the casting, the audience is adults 45+.  Taking into consideration the audience, the message and desired outcome — effective or stupid?

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Hows strong is your brand’s voice?

April 28, 2007

Consistency is one of the immutable laws of marketing and branding.  Inconsistency will erode awareness, loyalty, and trust.

When most people mention consistency, they mean visual consistency and there’s no doubt that is critical.

But today, I want to focus on a different kind of consistency.  Voice.

Often times, how you say something is more important than what you say. 

You should have a clear idea of what your company’s voice is. And regardless of how many different writers are involved, your materials should always be in the same voice. How do you "sound" in your communications pieces? Are you formal? Conversational? Do you use short, choppy sentences or long, descriptive paragraphs? Do you strictly adhere to grammar and style rules or do you take some liberties? What about slang or industry jargon? What does each of those choices say about you?

Don’t assume the right answer is based on industry stereotypes. Imagine the tone and style differences between a corporate law firm and a law firm that specializes in family law.

Your voice goes beyond the written words. What is the attitude of your radio spot? How about your signage? Is your voice consistent in how you answer your phone? The signature line on your e-mail? What about your press releases and sales promotions materials? Your on hold message?

Think of all the ways you communicate to your customers, potential customers, employees, and vendors.

How consistent and strong is your voice?

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Is the no negative language rule a double negative?

April 20, 2007

I am blaming it on The Secret.  In the last month, we have had two different clients ask us to go back and revise something we’d created a while ago and they’d already been using because it contained "negative language." 

One even referenced the book and the Law of Attraction.   

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m all for the law of attraction. I agree with it.  But I also think its more of a concept than an absolute. 

Then, the topic came up yesterday in yet another client meeting on a current project.  So this has been on my mind quite a bit lately.

As a writer, I strongly believe that sometimes it is more powerful to speak in the negative.  Maybe I’m wrong.  Let me share with you my thoughts and then I’d like to listen to yours.

Words like never, don’t or won’t can be potent triggers. They can connote a depth of conviction, in my opinion.  I like to use them as a contrast.  To give the copy a twist or really pound home a point without pulling out the hammer.

"We’ll never charge you for the same repair twice" is a more powerful statement than the same concept written in the positive.

We don’t do bankers hours feels stronger than we have evening hours or we’re open until 7. 

Our viscosity standards will never be compromised is pretty tough to state in a positive way with as much conviction.

Or am I wrong?  I’d love to hear your thoughts about using negative language in copy and taglines.

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Meet the Age of Conversation Authors

April 19, 2007

About two weeks ago, Gavin Heaton and I announced that we were going to publish an e-book called The Age of Conversation.

We’re going to donate all proceeds to Variety, the Children’s Charity.  We’ve been spotlighting different chapters across the globe throughout our posts.

Then we shared that the book will be dedicated to CK and her mom, Sandra Kerley.

Of course, it was going to be an incredibly short book if only Gavin and I wrote it. So we invited all of you to join us.  To kick it off with some fire power, we started with an impressive list of confirmed authors to be sure:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G.Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
CB Whittemore
S. Neil Vineberg

The topics are as remarkable as the authors.  These authors are going to tackle everything from community to religion, job seeking to design, sharing to television.  And just about everything in between.

In less than 1 week, we exceeded our 100 author goal and we’re off to an incredible book.&nbs p; Thanks to all of you who have decided to write a chapter, to all of you who promoted the author request and to all of you who I know will continue to help us spread the word.

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Want to write a best seller?

April 18, 2007

Then start with a title that rocks. If you’re looking for a little help with that killer title, check out this tool:

LuLu.com’s Titlescorer will predict whether your title will help you sell millions of copies or end up on the 50% off rack.  Developed by number-crunchers, this tool compares your title with attributes of the most successful books of the last 50 years.

Let’s have a contest…come up with a title (can’t cheat and use Gone with the Wind) and let’s see who can get the highest score. 

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The Age of Conversation: 100+ authors!

April 13, 2007

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Gavin and I are so excited — The Age of Conversation is going to be an amazing book.  We exceeded our goal of 100 authors (in less than a week!) and the topics they are writing about is going to blow you away.

We’ll be posting a complete list of authors in a few days (it’s going to take me that long to catalog them all!) and we thank each person for stepping up and offering their thinking/writing to this very cool project.

Again, thank you for helping us make this crazy idea a reality!  And for making the world a little nicer for kids across the globe.  Here’s what Variety is up to in Gavin’s neck of the woods.

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5 ways to come up with new content

April 11, 2007

I’ve been writing a weekly marketing column since 1999 and today, as you know, I try to add new content to this blog every day.

One of the questions I often get asked is "how do you think of stuff to write about?"  Followed up with the inevitable "Aren’t you worried you’re going to run dry?"

It seems that Mohit Singhania (a fifth year student at IIT Bombay)  from Best-Blog-Basket has been wondering the same thing.  He’s started the "Be Original" project, asking writers, bloggers and other creators where they get their ideas.

I offer these ideas not just to you bloggers, but anyone who creates content.  Does your company have a web site?  Do you send out sales letters?  A company newsletter?  Hopefully this will trigger some ideas for you too.

Here’s my contribution:

The questions my clients ask:  Clients will often call me after reading something I’ve written and say "was that about me?"  Usually, it’s not.  It’s a compilation of conversations over time.  But every once in awhile…

What I read:  Books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes.  If it has words, I like to read it.  And with each sentence, new ideas bubble up.

My interactions: Because I write about marketing and everything is marketing…I am surrounded by fodder.  Whether it is a trip to the ER or Disney World, there’s great material just waiting for me.

My own worries/concerns/wonderings:  Sometimes I think pretty good.  Sometimes it’s even worthy of sharing.

The analogies we use with clients: Some of my favorite posts were borne from stories/analogies that we use to help clients understand a marketing or branding concept.

Of course, that’s just scratching the surface.  The reality is — if you set your mind to watching for things that make you go "hmmm," you will find them everywhere!

If you’d like to read more about Mohit and his project, you can see the full details here.  Rather than tag specific people – I am going to invite all of you to participate.  If you do, remember to link back to Mohit so he can track everyone’s answers.

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Do you have a brand inferiority complex?

April 10, 2007

Weasel words.  At McLellan Marketing Group, we use that term for the buzz words that people use when they don’t know what to say.  It’s almost like a magician’s slight of hand.  If I use these words, you won’t recognize that I’m not really saying anything.

Yesterday, I held up a mission statement that sounds like thousands of mission statements on corporate walls across the business world.  Word like "market leader" and "exemplary service" are pretty but meaningless.

David Reich adds food for thought in his post Ban the E-Word.  David points to the overuse of the word engagement and how it used to be a word that had meaning.  But now its been tossed on the pile with empowerment, paradigm and innovation.

Contrast those weasel words with this simple but meaning packed sentence. It comes from the values statement of one of our clients (they wrote these themselves, so we’re not patting ourselves on the back.) 

"Fun provides energy for success."  I not only understood every word…but it gives me a sense of who they are.  And what they’d be like to work with.

I think people use weasel words because they are at a loss.  They feel like they need to fill space or deflect our attention.  Or that somehow we won’t think they’re legit if they talk like regular people.  They’re afraid they won’t measure up.  They won’t be good enough.

They have a brand inferiority complex.

Mark True brings this point home in his elegant post Is Your Brand Sincere.  Mark talks about how a sincere brand is not a perfect brand.  And in fact, sincerity begs us to show the cracks along with the beauty.

Are you confident enough in your brand to let us see the cracks?

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Had to get out of my own way

April 6, 2007

A few days before this blog received its 1000th comment, Gavin Heaton’s Servant of Chaos celebrated the same milestone.  Just like I invited David Reich to be my guest blogger to commemorate the occasion, Gavin asked the same of me.

Wow…what a daunting task.  It’s a very cool thing, don’t get me wrong.  But it’s also nerve wracking.  If you bomb on your own blog, that’s  one thing.  But to bomb on someone else’s?  Yuck.

Check out my post on Gavin’s site.  If you don’t read Gavin’s blog, you need to start.

Check out David’s post here on The Marketing Minute.  And check out David’s blog, My 2 Cents.  It is always worth the read.

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Eye tracking study yields surprising results for bloggers

April 4, 2007

The Poynter Institute wanted to take a scientific look at how people read news and if there was a difference when the news was presented in an online, tabloid or broadsheet format. 

It’s the largest study they’ve ever done and is the first time they’ve compared both print and online media.

The Institute just released the results of their EyeTrack07 study.

Here are some findings that will not be a surprise:

• People are drawn to alternative story forms like Q&A’s, timelines, sidebars and lists
• Photos get a lot of attention in print
• Real photos got more attention than staged or studio photographs

Here’s the surprise:

The largest percentage of story text read was in the online format.

• 77% online
• 62% in broadsheet
• 57% in tabloid

And…nearly two-thirds of online readers, once they selected an item to read, read ALL of the text.

Interestingly, the study was partially funded by mainstream print newspapers. You can download a teaser of the research results.  They’ll also be selling the full results in mid-April.

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